Photographer Matika Wilbur shares portrayal of Native Americans, Nov. 7

WYOMISSING, Pa. — Matika Wilbur, a visual storyteller from the Swinomish and Tulalip Peoples of Coastal Washington, will present her photography, which portrays contemporary narratives of Native Americans across the U.S., at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7, in the Penn State Berks Perkins Student Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Based in the Pacific Northwest, Wilbur is one of the nation’s leading photographers. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Brooks Institute of Photography, where she had a double major in advertising and digital imaging.

Her most recent endeavor, Project 562, covers more than 300 tribal nations dispersed across 40 U.S. states. Wilbur has taken thousands of portraits and collected hundreds of contemporary narratives from the breadth of Indian Country for this project — all in the pursuit of one goal: “To change the way we see Native America.”

According to Wilbur’s website: “Project 562 is a multi-year national photography project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States in an effort to create an unprecedented repository of imagery and oral histories that accurately portrays contemporary Native Americans. This creative, consciousness-shifting work will be widely distributed through updated national curricula, artistic publications, exhibitions and online portals.”

Penn State Berks reserves the right to limit the photography and/or recording of any program. The permitted or prohibited activities during a particular program will be announced at the beginning of the event and/or included in the printed program. All media requesting interviews and/or access to photograph and/or tape any program must contact the Office of Strategic Communications at 610-396-6053.

This event is sponsored by the Penn State Berks Arts and Lecture series. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.